kscans

Chapter 809 - And So Come, O Children of Blue, There Is No Way to Close the Door, Part Three

Not a single person on the battlefield was able to clearly see it.

Not the user, whose vision was lost in the extreme high-speed maneuver, nor the elite players who, despite being caught off guard by the sudden godsend, were accustomed to top-tier battlefields.

All any of them could see was the color of "water" painting a faint afterimage.

And so, the wind carrying a short sword of transparent, glowing blue crystal raged forth… and what appeared was a single boy who had sliced through the countless wooden tentacles infesting the area in one fell swoop.

"—I'll take the aggro!"

Putting a stop to the utter annihilation of the allied forces, he fearlessly raised his voice before the monster. And in the instant his gaze met the enemy, an enemy he could tell was different just from the pressure of the information it exuded—

"—"

"Tch—"

A will-less, silent cry. A fighting spirit-filled silence. The moment both sides raised their spear and blade, sound returned to the battlefield that had enjoyed a brief moment of quiet.

Tree roots rent the air, and a single arrow darted across the ground.

Even without a taunt skill, the boy's presence was more than enough to be judged a 'threat.' That single, diving slash was all it took to steal the entirety of the enemy's hate. The dark-colored spears now converged on Kanata alone.

And the dozens of lethal, sharp points aimed at him were—

"—[Fire Enchant]."

He ran along the floor, darted up the walls, and crisscrossed the ceiling, leaving every single one of them behind before uttering the key words to imbue his attacks with power. Now glowing a brilliant crimson that burned all it touched were,

"[Rebellion]."

His soul's other half, bestowed upon him by the world.

Twin blue swords, twin crimson feet. While standing on the ceiling, he dodged the spears aimed at him with minimal movement, then, without hesitation, used the deadly points now embedded in the ceiling as footholds to slide straight down the rigid wooden lances.

His impact was faster than the blink of an eye.

"—…Tch!"

A red flash of lightning raced by, accompanied by a chain of crisp sounds from both slashes and strikes.

The trigger of the black sword held in his mouth was pulled. Kicking off from zero-to-a-hundred acceleration and hundred-to-zero deceleration as if they were nothing, he unleashed a relentless assault that carved wounds into [Administrator:02].

Left slash, right slash, followed by a left kick and a right kick. The acrobatic four-hit combo, delivered in a single breath, struck true, and the wooden monster scattered a brilliant light effect in place of blood—

"Tch…!?"

Or so everyone on the battlefield thought.

But the crimson that should have signaled a successful hit never danced in the air. The stag, still showing no voice or reaction, merely responded with the same emotionless action as before.

In other words, an immediate counterattack.

"—Tch, that was close…! I'm sorry, but what's going on with that thing?!"

Not only did it not show a damage effect, its HP bar didn't even appear.

Kanata, who had just retreated from a storm of wooden whips that seemed to explode outwards with a momentary burst of super-acceleration far exceeding five hundred kilometers per hour, cried out in confusion…

"We were just about to ask you 'what's going on with you'?!"

"Isn't Kanata-kun, like, insane?!"

"Acrobat No. 2 is becoming even more of an Acrobat No. 2…!"

But the voices that answered him were even more confused and bewildered than his own. They all knew this was no time for such things, which only served to underscore their utter astonishment.

"—Tch, j-just like you see! No matter how many times we hit it, its HP won't show up! Which means… we can probably assume that's what this is!"

But as expected of the squad leader, Lilac, while the other members were reeling in shock from the ranker-level display of skill, prioritized sharing information, his voice trembling.

And so, the necessary information was fully conveyed.

"An enemy with no status bar… a common trait of the 'Colored Monsters'…!"

"At the very least, we should assume it's in a different league from your average dungeon boss!"

"I see, understood—"

Kanata fixed his gaze on the enemy once more, readying his twin swords and feet.

As if to say no more chatter would be permitted, he glared at the tsunami of roots surging towards him and,

"That's what they say, Tetra-kun!"

He called out to his own shadow. In that instant,

As if laughing at the overwhelming mass of attacks closing in, calling them 'tepid,' an even more overwhelming torrent of darkness erupted from beneath Kanata's feet, tearing through and consuming the countless spears.

And then,

"—So, what's the situation over there? Are you having a tough time keeping up the fight?"

""""Whoa, you scared us!""""

Another small boy now stood behind Lilac's squad, who had completely entered spectator mode. Without a sound or a hint of his presence,

The [Undying] one, commanding shadows and cloaked in darkness, asked in a tone utterly devoid of tension.

"Can you fight? Or can't you?"

""""We can fight!""""

"I see. Then, do your best—there's no risk of death anymore, so move as you please."

He asked, nodded, and muttered a few indifferent words… and with just that, under the brilliant aura of a 'ranker' that instilled infinite fighting spirit and morale in his allies,

"Gah… Alright! Kanata-kun! We'll take over as tanks!"

"Go be the flashy damage dealer you were meant to be!"

"Ah, r-roger that!"

"Hey, how much longer do I have to hold this incantation?! Can I just fire it already?!"

"The weight on my shoulders just completely vanished…!"

"…Well, you seem more energetic than I thought."

Beside Tetra, who coolly summoned his 'bow' while ignoring the men whose vigor had not only been restored to one hundred percent but had surged even higher, was,

"G-Go, everyone…!"

Another voice. Though she didn't quite have the air of a goddess of victory, the cheers from the party's sole woman, Saishiki Kenbi, were a welcome addition.

"—…"

Still without expression or face, the hunt for the silent monster was about to begin.